Your Friday Evening Briefing: Donald Trump, O.J. Simpson, Syria

1. Donald J. Trump has often taken the presidential race in unexpected directions. In a, um, coarse debate on Thursday, he led Americans, as our TV critic notes, into his pants. Establishment Republicans are voicing their dismay at Mr. Trump’s dominance in ever sharper terms: The former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan described seeing the party “shatter before our eyes.” And Ben Carson officially suspended his campaign, saying, “There’s a lot of people who love me, they just won’t vote for me.”

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CreditSeth Perlman/Associated Press

2. Things are a bit quieter for the Democrats. Bernie Sanders campaigned in three states on Friday, hoping to blunt Hillary Clinton’s momentum before a handful of contests this weekend. Mrs. Clinton campaigned in Michigan, her optimistic message contrasting harshly with that of Mr. Trump, who also spoke in the state.

4. Brazilian police officersraided the home of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the former president who is under investigation in a colossal graft scheme involving the national oil company. He was released after about three hours of questioning without being arrested or charged. But Mr. Da Silva, once the embodiment of his country’s rise as a global powerhouse, has come to symbolize something else as a sweeping corruption scandal rips apart the political establishment: Brazil’s crashing ambitions.

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CreditKhalil Ashawi/Reuters

5. The partial truce in Syria backed by Washington and Moscow has lasted a week — and “dramatically reduced overall violence” in the country, The A.P. reports. Demonstrators took advantage of the relative peace on Friday, renewing their calls for the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad.

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CreditPreston Gannaway for The New York Times

6. A school superintendent’sstruggle against teachers in Oakland, Calif., provides a window on one divisive approach to education reform. Antwan Wilson, who was trained at an academy established by the Los Angeles billionaire Eli Broad, has come under criticism for a plan to let families apply to any of Oakland’s traditional or charter schools with a single form. Teachers and some parents worry that such latitude could drain resources and students from district-run schools.

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CreditMarvin Recinos/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

7. A Zika vaccine could be ready for human trials in September, according to the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. That’s ahead of the anticipated timeline for a solution to an epidemic that has infected millions of people. But even a successful vaccine could not be widely distributed before 2018. Above, larvae of the mosquito Aedes aegypti, a carrier of the virus.

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CreditMark J. Terrill/Associated Press

8. The encryption fight between Apple and the U.S. has suggested a schism between Silicon Valley and the federal government. But some former government officials embraced the technology industry this week in San Francisco, at one of the world’s largest gatherings of security experts. No less than the former cybersecurity czar at the Department of Homeland Security said that what law enforcement wants is “so misguided they simply boggle the mind.”

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CreditPool photo by Myung Chun

9. A knife is said to have been found on property once owned by O.J. Simpson, two decades after the former football star was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife and her friend — with a knife. The implement is being tested for DNA evidence, the Los Angeles police said.

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CreditPaul Morigi/Getty Images For Netflix

10. A fourth season of the Netflix show “House of Cards” premiered to much fanfare, though with the real-life political thriller that is the 2016 election running concurrently, viewers may feel exhausted by all the poli-trickery. “You know you have a problem in American politics when they’re making ‘House of Cards’ look normal,” said the actor who plays Frank Underwood’s consigliere.

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CreditAlastair Grant/Associated Press

11. A “geographical profiling study” of the mysterious street artist Banksy claims to have found significant evidence to support a previously suggested real identity: a nomad named Robin Gunningham who has lived or frequented places where the artist has been active. The study was apparently delayed by lawyers for the artist before its Thursday release, adding to the intrigue.